• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Stories from SWNS
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

    Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

    Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

    Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

    “It was worth every penny” –  Kind-hearted plumber spent £57K helping vulnerable families fix their heating for FREE during pandemic

    “It was worth every penny” – Kind-hearted plumber spent £57K helping vulnerable families fix their heating for FREE during pandemic

    Lunar photographer takes pictures of the moon every night for a month – to show in world’s most vivid detail the extent the moon moves during each orbit

    Lunar photographer takes pictures of the moon every night for a month – to show in world’s most vivid detail the extent the moon moves during each orbit

    Moment entire roof on massive house COLLAPSES under the weight of heavy snowfall

    Moment entire roof on massive house COLLAPSES under the weight of heavy snowfall

    Shielding man who died of Covid leaves behind incredible legacy – six children who ALL work for the NHS

    Shielding man who died of Covid leaves behind incredible legacy – six children who ALL work for the NHS

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Spending More Time Online? How to Make the Most of Your Time

    Spending More Time Online? How to Make the Most of Your Time

    Why Now More Than Ever Healthcare Needs To Go Digital

    Why Now More Than Ever Healthcare Needs To Go Digital

    The Impacts of Technology in the Casino Sector

    The Impacts of Technology in the Casino Sector

    How IoT Is Shaping The Various Aspects Of The Healthcare Industry?

    How IoT Is Shaping The Various Aspects Of The Healthcare Industry?

    How Can Robots Take Their Place in Casinos?

    How Can Robots Take Their Place in Casinos?

    Three Elearning Trends That Point To The Importance Of Mobile Learning Solutions

    Three Elearning Trends That Point To The Importance Of Mobile Learning Solutions

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

    Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

    Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

    Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

    “It was worth every penny” –  Kind-hearted plumber spent £57K helping vulnerable families fix their heating for FREE during pandemic

    “It was worth every penny” – Kind-hearted plumber spent £57K helping vulnerable families fix their heating for FREE during pandemic

    Lunar photographer takes pictures of the moon every night for a month – to show in world’s most vivid detail the extent the moon moves during each orbit

    Lunar photographer takes pictures of the moon every night for a month – to show in world’s most vivid detail the extent the moon moves during each orbit

    Moment entire roof on massive house COLLAPSES under the weight of heavy snowfall

    Moment entire roof on massive house COLLAPSES under the weight of heavy snowfall

    Shielding man who died of Covid leaves behind incredible legacy – six children who ALL work for the NHS

    Shielding man who died of Covid leaves behind incredible legacy – six children who ALL work for the NHS

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Spending More Time Online? How to Make the Most of Your Time

    Spending More Time Online? How to Make the Most of Your Time

    Why Now More Than Ever Healthcare Needs To Go Digital

    Why Now More Than Ever Healthcare Needs To Go Digital

    The Impacts of Technology in the Casino Sector

    The Impacts of Technology in the Casino Sector

    How IoT Is Shaping The Various Aspects Of The Healthcare Industry?

    How IoT Is Shaping The Various Aspects Of The Healthcare Industry?

    How Can Robots Take Their Place in Casinos?

    How Can Robots Take Their Place in Casinos?

    Three Elearning Trends That Point To The Importance Of Mobile Learning Solutions

    Three Elearning Trends That Point To The Importance Of Mobile Learning Solutions

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
Stories from SWNS
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Brain tricks teenager into thinking she’s injured

by
April 19, 2011
in News
10
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A teenage girl whose broken foot healed seven years ago is living in constant agony because of a rare condition which tricks her brain into believing she is still injured.

Brain tricks teenager into thinking she's injured

Kiera Ward, 17, takes a daily cocktail of 39 painkillers even though the fracture is fully healed and the pain is all in her head.

She broke her foot during a playground game of tug-of-war aged 11 but doctors believe the trauma of delays in her treatment triggered a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

The ailment causes her brain to experience phantom pain as if the injury is still there – and Kiera lives in excruciating pain 24 hours a day.

She said: ”The pain is unbearable, I can’t describe to anyone else how it feels.

”There are so many days where I can’t get out of bed or where I’m with my friends and I just burst into tears because I can’t take it any more.

”The hardest thing is that my foot isn’t hurt, my brain is just telling me it is. There’s no reason why this is happening.”

Kiera, from Wishaw, Lanarkshire, broke her heel bone in September 2004 on a school trip to Kilbowie, near Oban.

She was playing tug-of-war when she fell under a group of classmates.

No one realised she was badly injured until two days later when she could not walk.

The schoolgirl was taken to hospital, where doctors did not X-ray her but said she had ligament damage and sent her home with instructions to rest and take ibuprofen.

Brain tricks teenager into thinking she's injured

Two weeks later, she was in such pain her parents took her to Wishaw General where the fracture was found.

The delay in her treatment could have sparked Kiera’s Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), which sometimes affects young, sporty girls for reasons no one understands.

She should have been off her crutches after six weeks but instead could not walk for 18 months.

It was not until September 2005 that she was finally diagnosed at Yorkhill Children’s Hospital in Glasgow.

The musical theatre student at Motherwell College said: ”I was devastated when they told me and it was so difficult to understand.

”There wasn’t much the doctors could do because the problem wasn’t my foot. I felt all on my own.

”All I wanted was for the pain to end. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on my worst enemy.

Brain tricks teenager into thinking she's injured

”I was screaming at my mum to please let them cut my foot off if it would make it stop.”

Kiera’s disorder is similar to so-called ‘phantom limb syndrome’, where someone who has lost an arm or leg still feels pain even though it’s not there.

She had seven operations from the age of 12 to 16. Local anaesthetic was injected into her spine to stop the pain in her foot and ‘reboot’ her brain into realising it had healed.

But the surgery, and an epidural, all failed. She still cannot walk on her foot and the CRPS has spread through her body to her back, arms and neck.

She has refused a wheelchair because walking does her no physical harm, although it hurts more than anything else.

And Kiera tries to keep going through her pain, which is so extreme she sometimes has spasms and needs morphine to cope.

She has been told there’s a chance her condition will last for life but is hoping for a cure.

Brain tricks teenager into thinking she's injured

In the meantime, the teenager has done a charity walk for Yorkhill Children’s Foundation and raised £3,000 for Alexandra Sawmill’s Pain Reserve Fund, which helps to control agony like hers.

She has set up her own fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/Kiera-Ward.

And, although her pain too often takes centre stage, Kiera is hoping for a career in musical theatre or photography and looking to the future.

The teen, who has two brothers, Dean, 22, and Anton, 19, and lives with parents Jacqui and Jim, both 45, said: ”Sometimes it is hard to think about anything except how much it hurts and every day is hard.

”But I try to keep positive, I try to have a smile on my face and I just hope for a day when I won’t be in pain any more.”

Tags: HealthWeird
Previous Post

I fell in love with my RE teacher

Next Post

Brits to spend £163million on Wills and Kate souvenirs

Next Post

Brits to spend £163million on Wills and Kate souvenirs

Comments 10

  1. Jason says:
    10 years ago

    Pill popping scum.

    Reply
    • Preciousangel83124 says:
      10 years ago

      Why would you put that? Do you know anything about RSD? Before you judge get educated my friend. Yes she is taking way to many pills but alot of those pills are needed for this disease. I have had it for almost two years now and it is an awful and nasty disease and yes it is very painful, there is no reason to be calling her names and judging her. Why don’t you try to walk a day in her shoes and see how you feel.

      Reply
  2. Lr_logan says:
    10 years ago

    I too have the same condition and have had in several parts of me ..some recent some for about 20 years and it is a frustrating situation because we do feel the pain and it is real..and most ppl don’t understand it because they can’t really see it and it’s not something like Diabetes or something like that..it is sad that there are so many closed minded individuals . Hang in there I keep as active as I can. I am also 47 you may get the opportuntiy to see a cure first with the blessing of God. God bless you and keep up the good work in fundraising and school.

    Reply
  3. FullBodyRSD says:
    10 years ago

    TRICKS HER BRAIN? WHEN YOU INJURE YOURSELF, THE SYMPATHETIC NERVE FIRES OFF- WHEN THE PAIN DOESN’T GO AWAY IT MEANS THAT THE GANGLION NERVE TOOK OVER AND IT DOESN’T STOP FIRING OFF IMPULSES- WHY ISN’T THIS MENTIONED?

    Reply
  4. RSDsufferer says:
    10 years ago

    She will be dead by the time she’s 35! And the doctors who give her all these meds should be arrested and have their medical license taken away FOR GOOD! They just sealed her doom!

    Reply
  5. Crayola Washamahiki says:
    10 years ago

     Or not walking for that matter. My story is very similar to hers. This pain syndrome is more than most could handle. Show some respect. Go get educated.

    Reply
    • RSDsufferer says:
      10 years ago

      Show respect to who? You? This girl who is on 39 kinds of pills? Who will be dead by the time she is 35? If YOU were educated, you would know that when the sympathetic nerve goes hay wire like in RSD/CRPS, the ganglion nerve takes over and again, if YOU were educated, you would know that if the ganglion nerve takes over, the damage is irreversable- Done- Capishe? All in the head? Her brain playing tricks on her? No- First, she needs to see a real doctor who follows strict protocal when dealing with RSD/CRPS-
      Why is the FDA cracking down on Doctors? Because of HER and her 39 medications! Doctors pass out pills like candy these days and you know that this is wrong, right?

       As for walking, I have full body RSD- I struggle everyday to do the simplest of tasks- I am well educated on this disease and the medicines that doctors use, because the doctors don’t know how to treat the disease- You may have been slighted some how but you don’t have to make a comment like that- As for the respect thing, I am nothing short of. Relax & have a glass of wine- That might help you some (:

      But never mix medication with wine- Keep that in mind, K? k…..

      Reply
  6. Graham Hale says:
    9 years ago

    I have just been told i have CPRS after a botched operation on my back my leg swelled up i was even threatened with it being amputated Now i’m getting told its all in my head.
    What about the botched operation i have had to have a operation on my leg to try and save it My consultant said after 18 months now that i have CRPS I have no fealing in my leg from the knee down 
    Who ever came up with the rubbish that its the brain is wrong if pain is there then there is something wroung  it is getting confused with when people loose a limb and they still feel things. Treating this like a mental problem is wrong Most CRPS has come from a injury or a botched op my consultant went through a nurve with the op i had to relieve the compartment syndrome i had 
    After all we have not asked for this Nore do we want it 

    Reply
  7. WOUND CARE SUPPLIES says:
    9 years ago

    “eat pray love” look out for the physics of the quest. Very good post, we are all happy by nature its our thoughts that make us feel otherwise. p.s. will defo start jotting 3 things that make me feel good or happy each day. @MIKKY 🙂

    Reply
  8. ラルフローレン子供服 says:
    9 years ago

    I’d like to know how much of my selection of red was due to it being my fav colour and not the test? When I was asked to think of the colour I had to think for a sec and just settled on my fav, red. Idk… My mom got a red hammer though. 

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected test

  • 79 Followers
  • 43k Followers
  • 93.2k Subscribers
  • 22.8k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

March 5, 2014
The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

January 21, 2014
The horses thunder towards a jump at the Grand National

Amazing racehorse names which never made it

April 23, 2014
HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

January 14, 2019
Chris Fear, 33, outside the Coral betting shop which is refusing to pay out on his 485/1 winning bet

Boycott Coral! Bookmaker faces protest after refusing to pay out on a football fan’s 485/1 bet

184
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

147
Women feel invisible to the opposite sex at the age of 51, researchers found

Women begin feeling invisible to men ‘when they turn 51’

138
UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

105
Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

January 15, 2021
Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

January 15, 2021
Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

January 15, 2021
AVOID OR GIVE IT A TRY

Non Gamstop Casinos – AVOID OR GIVE IT A TRY

January 13, 2021

Recent News

Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

January 15, 2021
Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

January 15, 2021
Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

Miners stunned after discovering amazing Amethyst heart in lump of rock

January 15, 2021
AVOID OR GIVE IT A TRY

Non Gamstop Casinos – AVOID OR GIVE IT A TRY

January 13, 2021
SWNS

SWNS all rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Auto
  • Blog
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Gaming
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Pictures
  • Property
  • Review
  • Sport
  • SWNS
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Recent News

Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

Why Reputation Matters: the FreshairFitness Difference

January 15, 2021
Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

Poundland obsessed five-year-old becomes only child ever to be sent official Poundland uniform and employee of the month badge

January 15, 2021
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.